Chapter 83
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 83
Chapter Title: Babo is You (2)
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Everyone's eyes widened.
It was because of what Yi Hyun had said.
"……!!!"
'He read the prophecy? This guy?!'
And well they might.
Yi Hyun was the guy who, just a few months ago, knew nothing about the world.
Essentially a giant infant, wasn't he?
Teaching him basic common sense from square one had been daily life.
No one in the 2nd Knight Order hadn't done it at least once.
It wasn't for nothing that he got treated like a fool.
'That Yi Hyun...'
Yet this same guy had read writing.
Not ordinary Imperial tongue, either.
A prophecy written in ancient runes.
Everyone was stunned.
"Y-Yi Hyun! You can read?!"
"Ahem, as you can see..."
"We thought you couldn't read a single letter!!"
By Silpi's point, they'd assumed he was completely illiterate.
Yi Hyun looked around, utterly dumbfounded.
Roughly half the knight order wore the same expression.
-Murmurs.
"Have you ever seen him read?"
"He could read simple words, so I patted his head and told him he'd memorized them quick..."
"I figured he'd just memorized a few key words first."
"Me too."
"……."
Do they think I'm Hilde or something?
Yi Hyun nearly blurted it out.
But his frustration soon turned into a curt tone.
"Why's everyone treating me like an idiot? Sure, the blessing made it easy, but even without it, it wouldn't have taken more than a few days."
"...Leaving the blessing aside, 'wouldn't have taken long'?"
"Yeah! It's not like I didn't study because I'm dumb—my brain's plenty sharp!"
"Wow."
Hilde let out a small exclamation of disbelief.
Yi Hyun strutting around with his intelligence at 1.9 points was just too ridiculous.
It wasn't just Hilde's reaction.
'Oh my, he called himself smart right to our faces. No matter how you look at it, he's just like Hilde...'
'Yi Hyun, even I think that's a bit much on the self-conscience...'
Even Silpi and Blanc, who were pretty biased toward him, looked skeptical.
They averted their eyes, at a loss for words.
Lumine alone tilted her head innocently.
"......Mee?"
'Why's everyone reacting to Yi Hyun like this?'
And well she might.
She didn't know yet.
She hadn't witnessed Yi Hyun being Yi Hyun.
To her, he was still the coolest, kindest prince in the world.
'No matter how I think about it, the man who hears stuff like that... Ah♡'
"Meeeut♡"
Just thinking about him made her lightly wet.
What kind of reaction was this to such an amazing guy?
And this was just as Sage Minerva had predicted.
"Heh~."
'Yup, still getting treated like a fool, huh? It was a bit of a gamble, but good thing I didn't show it off early.'
A faint smile played on her lips.
A frivolous voice leaked from under her hood.
'Can't have Lumine's husband material getting picked on.'
"Oh my goodness! To decipher such a difficult prophecy at a glance!!"
Faked astonishment.
All eyes turned to Minerva.
The cloak hid her grinning face.
"Supervisor...?"
"To interpret a prophecy from the Goddess so clearly—truly the hero who has her favor~!!"
"...Him? Well, yeah, I guess."
"Then Yi Hyun, how far does your blessing go? Just prophecies?"
A smooth handoff.
Yi Hyun's eyes lit up.
He had an uncanny knack for spotting when he could show off.
"Probably anything with meaning, as long as it's expressed in sound or writing!"
"Anything? Not just ancient runes, but other languages too?"
"I think so? Honestly, aside from Imperial, I haven't seen anything else yet, but it should work on most stuff."
"Hmm, can you understand this? It's from another kingdom."
"Kingdom? Which one?"
"...He can even speak it? How about this?"
"What, they're all different? They sound pretty similar to me."
"Heh~ What an incredible blessing."
Minerva turned away, satisfied.
As she'd expected, everyone's jaws were on the floor.
"The world... That fool speaking foreign languages so fluently..."
"Yi Hyun looks smart for once. But it feels so weird."
"I thought I had to teach him this stuff, didn't expect him to have this side."
The way they looked at him shifted a little.
From super-talented fool to multilingual fool.
Just as Minerva intended.
"Fufu~."
'Truth is, you don't really need a blessing for that kinda thing, and prophecies don't drop more than once or twice a lifetime anyway, so not super useful...'
Still, she'd succeeded in changing their perception.
No more getting dismissed as Lumine's man's an idiot.
Worth playing nice for...
"Oh yeah, I can understand those monsters too."
"Wait, what? Monster speech?"
"The first thing I heard was goblins asking if I was rotten meat or something? Man, thinking back on it..."
"……."
'Maybe it really is that broken?'
She glimpsed a fragment of the mod's cheat-level power and blanked for a sec.
But anyway, her plan worked.
A tiny consideration Yi Hyun wouldn't notice.
'Minerva, nice!'
His shoulders perked up.
The way people looked at him had totally changed.
"Yi Hyun, so you do have a less idiotic side?"
"Maybe we were prejudiced. Memories of you asking about everything like a baby are still fresh..."
"It's fine, it's fine~."
Sure, reading was just thanks to the Korean patch click—
A mod that had nothing to do with him.
But hey, beggars can't be choosers.
The fool image piled up from a month of amnesia-acting.
Shaking it off like this was good enough.
'Fool's what you call Hilde-types.'
He whispered to Hilde.
In English: You're the fool, Babo is you.
Her wolf ears shot straight up.
"...What'd you just say?"
"Said you're pretty, Hilde."
"Thanks, but that felt super off just now? Did you curse me?"
"Hey, I don't curse at people. If I did, it'd be something like 'rice cake pounding jerk'."
"What's that supposed to—ugh, never mind."
But it was short-lived.
Hilde shook her head like she'd given up.
Fur flew.
"Anyway, just how many blessings do you have? The captain's too, why do new ones keep popping up?"
"Maybe the Goddess was feeling generous? Even so, I'm running out now."
"What the hell does she see in a guy like you?"
"Maybe 'cause I never skip prayers?"
"That weird hand gesture was prayer? Blasphemy?"
"Even the temple higher-ups approved it? As long as the gratitude gets through, it's fine."
"I'd rather die."
Fur flew again.
She spoke from a distance.
"Anyway! Let's get back to it."
"Back to what...?"
"The prophecy. Prophecy."
She eyed the parchment crammed with text.
No spaces, insanely tough phrasing stretched out forever, but...
To his eyes, just certain letters stood out thick.
Reading them straight:
"The Hero is in Eizengart."
He glanced at Blanc here.
Like, what's Eizengart? No clue.
She got it—or seemed to—and fetched a map.
"Eizengart's a territory in the northern Empire. A tourist spot famous for hot springs, a bit back from the front lines. Famous for something else to us, though."
"Something else?"
"It's the knights' holy land."
She explained: Eizengart was granted long ago to some nameless knight.
Records of that knight were basically nil.
All that remained was legend: he was strong enough to inspire terror in thousands.
Something like a legend passed among knights.
"It's just a legend, really—actually, it's the iron quality there."
"My armor's Eizengart-made too. Pricey."
"Oho."
'Did they spread the rumor on purpose?'
So that's it, isekai viral marketing.
He didn't voice the guess.
No point nitpicking cheap jokes—if the quality's legit, whatever.
Instead, he sidled up to Lumine for a whisper.
Planning to ask about the Hero...
"Hey, Lumine. Any leads?"
[ASMR and Whispering have been added to the target's Erotic Wall.]
"Meeeut...♡"
"……."
'Ah, damn.'
This girl's hopeless if left alone.
Gotta build a harem somehow and slot her in.
No pheasant? Chicken it is—went to Minerva's ear.
-Whisper.
"Minerva, any leads on that territory?"
"A bit suspicious. Bustling place like that, no reason not to contact us if the Hero's there."
"I read the prophecy straight, though?"
"Not doubting our Hyun. Just, no clue what's going on."
"Hmm."
Not like it fell into some demon realm—it's a territory connected to the capital.
Yet no contact all this time?
His expression turned serious.
'No way she's petrified too?'
The petrification curse that hit Lumine.
If the Hero got it too.
Unlike her, if she lost all senses...
"Lighten up. At least not like Lumine's."
"Oh, really?"
"Checked with blessing. Took a full year, but not the same curse."
"Hmm."
False alarm then.
Good, not some tragedy porn.
"Then let's go check it out?"
"Gotta. Tell Blanc."
"Yep."
Swish—nimble move.
Stuck right to Blanc's side.
Grabbing her 'hand' was natural bonus.
"...That's Minerva's take. Thoughts?"
"Obviously gotta go, right? Doesn't feel like something to poll on."
"You're the boss here, so respecting that."
"Keeps the chain of command, huh? Hngut♡"
Blanc's face flushed a bit.
Obviously, after he'd properly twiddled her nips.
But to others, it looked different.
-Whispers.
"Hand-holding and she's like that? Heard rumors, but Blanc too...?"
"……."
'Her eyes are too sharp.'
Gotta handle Minerva first.
No idea how long Hero-hunting'll take...
She's plenty risky now.
'Safest is harem her in.'
Not super into flat chests, but oh well.
Learn her blessings too...
Worth a poke.
"Then let's mobilize ASAP."
"When?"
"Three days. Gotta coordinate with 1st Knight Captain, reports, supplies—lots to handle."
"Yep."
Three days.
Plenty for pounding cake.